Alongside every great driver, there is always a great crew chief, a rule that may not be as strict, but it applies in many cases. Sometimes the driver and crew boss grow up together and that seems to be the case with Fabio Quartararo and Diego Gubellini, who have been a formidable game since 2019. The Italian engineer was a guest on a GPOne live broadcast (the full video can be found above), in which he showed the typical severity of his role combined with a pronounced irony: “Fabio is more of my secret weapon than I am his,” he laughed.
Diego, in 2019 Quartararo arrived in Petronas almost by accident and shouldn’t be your rider at first. Did that confuse you?
“I like to have a long-term relationship with the drivers, in just one season you can’t fully exploit the potential on both sides, so the idea to continue the collaboration with Morbidelli that started in 2018 was driver and I were happy, Fabio certainly was a talented driver. I’m sorry not to be able to continue with Franco, but I liked the idea and you have to be lucky to work with such a talented driver. “
What was your first impression on his debut?
“He was quick from the start, that was clear from the first tests, because he was able to set many laps with times that were not far from those of the best. Then he also acquired the ability to do the flying lap, and quickly. From then on it was a job to gain experience, in modern MotoGP it is not enough to be fast, to have the pace or to be intelligent, but a mixture of all these things.
“Quartararo has to remember that you can never feel at home in sport”
What is a Quartararo defect?
“A person needs to be assessed as a whole and we all have flaws, he definitely has things to improve and he is trying to do it. In my opinion it is important to understand that you can always improve in sport, the most important message that he needs to have on his mind is that you should never feel welcome. I can imagine champions like Marquez and Valentino thinking that way.
On the other hand, what is its strength compared to the other Yamaha riders?
“Fabio manages to be fast with different strengths. What I mean is that depending on the circumstances, it can go fast by braking harder, having more cornering speed, or better handling the rear tire. His strength is to jump from one strength to another while remaining constant during the race or from one track to another.
“Quartararo was already constant in 2019, last year all drivers achieved mediocre results with the 2020 M1”
How has it changed from last year when it either won or disappeared to this year when it is not only fast but also constant?
“In 2019, when he made his MotoGP debut, he either fought for the podium or fell from Barcelona onwards, so he was able to stay constant on this bike. 2020 was a very special season, in terms of calendar, but above all technically. We’d inherited a bike without testing it, so we were a bit at a disadvantage, it didn’t arrive in Qatar until testing. The 2020 bike was completely different in both weight distribution, engine power and the use of tires. We managed to drive fast, where Fabio made a big difference, let’s say Jerez and Barcelona, where Fabio would have won with a Ciao (laughs). The key to understanding last year was that all three riders who used this bike, Fabio, Maverick and Valentino, got mediocre results and only managed to improve in certain places where they could make a difference. While Fabio fought for the podium every Sunday with the 2019 bike.
“I said to Fabio: On good days you don’t have to be stratospheric, but on bad days you have to be very good”
And what about Quartararo’s change from a personal point of view?
“In addition to growing up, he was able to see how the races develop, so he’s calmer because he has been through more situations that he has never experienced as a rookie. Fabio started this year with the idea of fighting for the world title, not winning it. As I told him: on good days you don’t have to be stratospheric, on bad you have to be very good. He does that, like in Austria. “
Does he have a certain superstition?
“He likes number 17, but not 13. Then a series of rites: in practice, he only hits the people in front of him while he approaches the bike while he does everything for qualifying and the race.” those of his group “.
What changes for a crew chief when he moves from a satellite team to an official team?
“The work is similar, but the goals and pressures change, as does the support from the manufacturer in the sense that you have to work for both the race weekend and the future. You ask yourself other questions and are already thinking about next year ”.
Do you also need imagination in your work?
“No, everything is calculated and weighed. It is a job that is done in real time, so there are a lot of things that cannot be planned. So, first of all, you have to prepare everything taking into account all the variables.
What is the most important quality of a crew chief?
“Have an overview and be ready to develop variations”.
“You no longer look at spark plugs, but rather at data and knowing how to take risks is still in demand”
You lived in the age of the 2-stroke and the technician who were also a bit magician, don’t you regret the times when you had to have a stroke of genius?
“Actually, not much has changed, only different tools are used. Now, having looked at the spark plugs, let’s study statistics, data that needs to be compared to the sensations of the driver and the stopwatch. There is always some risk that the technician, sometimes with the driver, has to take. Choosing the soft front tire, for example at Silverstone, was painful for me all night (laughs), it wasn’t a trivial decision, we made it with a little feeling. Statistics give clues, not answers ”.
Are you crew chiefs a bit like psychologists with your drivers?
“I am dealing with a very young rider; he could be my son (laughs). In training sessions I try to get him in the best possible shape, but in some situations you have to try to get him to do his best. You ask him to give everything and that is a responsibility I feel, an emotional bond inevitably develops. There is a certain concern on my part and I think he feels this sense of protection ”.
“Vinales will be quick at Aprilia, Dovizioso will be able to help Yamaha”
What do you think of Vinales’ move to Aprilia?
“Maverick scored fewer points in the race than Fabio, but until the first race in Austria he was always very fast in training, he was often ahead of Fabio, so In terms of absolute speed, it’s not true that Quartararo was the only fast Yamaha rider. There are some key moments on a race weekend that make everything go positive or negative. The ability or luck of some drivers is to be able to perform better in these moments and get a better result in the end. Sometimes a small difference at one point in time can lead to a completely different result. Maverick is a very fast rider and I expect him to be very competitive, at least in practice at Aragon, because in the race he will have a new bike to discover.
Dovizioso will join Yamaha from Misano, can he help with the development of the M1?
“I’m happy because I’ve always thought he was a very intelligent driver. In his career he has proven time and again that he knows how to make the most of the strengths of his bike at the time. He will be of help at Yamaha because he can give good advice. The more riders ride the same motorcycle, the more information we have.